US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has spoken by phone with Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss the process of political reconciliation in Afghanistan and other issues.

A statement released on Thursday by State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Pompeo and Gen Bajwa discussed ways to advance US-Pakistan bilateral relations, the need for political reconciliation in Afghanistan and the importance of targeting all militant and terrorist groups in South Asia without distinction.

Pakistan hosted the first direct peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban in 2015, but they ended when Kabul announced the death of Taliban founder Mullah Mohammed Omar.

Washington has talked up the prospects for peace many times and Pakistan has said it will help to ensure its neighbour's stability.

Earlier this year, US had assured Pakistan that it does not want to sever bilateral ties with this important ally while Islamabad extended its “wholehearted support” to the US-backed Afghan offer of peace talks with the Taliban.

The statements had supplement renewed efforts to improve relations between the US and Pakistan which were once close allies in the war against terror.